As we mature, it’s natural to consider our own mortality and whether our legacy is embodied in the hearts and minds of loved ones. Most of us will be satisfied just to pass on our most cherished memories, but taking the time to preserve your living legacy can improve your life and that of your family’s for years to come.

Working on your family’s living legacy will not only provide your loved ones with a precious, tangible attachment to you after you are gone, but will also improve your level of happiness, life satisfaction and psychological well being.

Read our top six tips for preserving your living legacy:

1. Collect Family Recipes

2. Make an Audio or Video Recording

3. Make a Family Tree

4. Make a Family Time Capsule

5. Transcribe Favorite Memories

The National Day of Listening also includes a list of “great questions” — that could serve as excellent writing prompts.

Lincoln City Libraries (LCL) and the Lied Center for Performing Arts today announce Savor the Color of Life, a program to celebrate adult reading, libraries and “The Color Purple.” The reading program runs from February 1 through April 4 and coincides with African-American History Month and the performances of the musical “The Color Purple” at the Lied Center April 11 through 15.

“Lincoln City Libraries is delighted by this opportunity to draw attention to Alice Walker’s book, ‘The Color Purple,’ which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award,” said Library Director Pat Leach. “Through the book, the musical and the movie, we’ll celebrate its message that in the midst of heartache and injustice, there is hope.” The 1985 movie was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and the revival of the musical won a 2016 Tony Award.

“The Lied Center is thrilled to partner with Lincoln City Libraries, the Downtown Lincoln Association and the City of Lincoln,” said Bill Stephan, Executive Director of the Lied Center for Performing Arts. “This collaboration helps to foster strong community relationships and to share meaningful stories like ‘The Color Purple’ with a wide audience.”

“I’m excited about the collaboration among our libraries, the Lied Center for Performing Arts, the Downtown Lincoln Association and businesses and nonprofits in Lincoln,” said Mayor Chris Beutler. “These types of partnerships encourage neighbor interaction, keep people engaged and help create a vibrant city.”

To qualify for prizes, adults register online at lincolnlibraries.org and then read four books between February 1 and April 4. Drawings for tickets to “The Color Purple” at the Lied Center will take place during that period. The program also includes the following free special events:

Two African-American Read-Ins are scheduled. The first event is at noon Friday, February 9 at the Lincoln Public Schools District office, 5901 O St. The second is at noon, Wednesday, February 21 at the Eiseley Branch Library, 1520 Superior St. No registration required.

With support from the Downtown Lincoln Association (DLA), the library will host a Downtown Scavenger Hunt March 3 through 11. The DLA and Lied Center for Performing Arts will award prizes for successfully completed Scavenger Hunt forms. Information about registration will be announced at a kickoff event at Bennett Martin Public Library March 3 at 10:30 a.m.

A Gospel Music concert is planned for 5 p.m., Sunday, March 4 (location to be announced). The concert is free to all. Seating is limited.

Movie vs. Book at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 18 at Gere Branch Library, 2400 S. 56th St. Participants will watch the movie, then discuss it and the book.

A Poetry Slam is planned as a culminating event, and details will be announced soon.

The Pioneers Park Nature Center invites the public to participate in two bird-themed wildlife viewing trips in spring 2018:

A Sandhill Crane Day Trip is scheduled from noon to 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 9. Space is limited, and the registration deadline is Friday, February 9.

Participants will meet at the Auld Pavilion in Antelope Park and travel to the Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center in Wood River and the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbon. The group will view and hear the cranes from a viewing blind as they arrive on the Platte River. The trip will also include periodic stops along country roads to view cranes as they feed and dance in the fields.

Sandhill Cranes are among the world’s oldest living birds and have traveled through Nebraska for centuries. They are dependent on an 80-mile segment of the Platte River for a four- to five-week stopover because of the food and protection in the area. The cranes come from as far south as Mexico and will travel as far north as eastern Siberia to raise their young. Over half a million Sandhill Cranes will make their way through Nebraska this spring. Some of the best viewing is at sunset when the cranes flock by the thousands to spend the night at the river.

The program fee is $85 and includes transportation, dinner and viewing blind reservations. If the trip is cancelled, the $25 reservation fee for the viewing blind is nonrefundable. Participants must have the ability to walk uneven trails in low light.

A Greater Prairie Chicken Multi-Day Tour is scheduled for Friday, April 13 through Sunday, April 15. Registered participants will receive details about departures, arrivals and other activities.

Participants will experience the booming and dancing of the greater prairie chicken and sharp-tailed grouse during tours on the Switzer Ranch near Burwell. The event is hosted by Calamus Outfitters and includes bus transportation, two nights lodging, guided tours and meals.

Greater prairie chickens are a vulnerable species with declining numbers due to prairie habitat fragmentation and loss. Today, the populations of greater prairie chicken are isolated to the mixed grass prairies of the central U.S. Preservation and restoration of prairie habitat have been successful at stabilizing population numbers.

Known for their mating dance, greater prairie chickens display together in a gathering called a “lek.” The male prairie chickens raise their ear tuft feathers, inflate the bright orange air sacks on their necks and stomp about to attract females. Similarly, the sharp-tailed grouse will display or dance to attract female grouse to their dancing grounds.

The program fee is $500 per person for double rooms, with single rooms available for an additional $75. Registration and a $250 deposit are required by January 5 (includes non-refundable $50 fee). The remaining balance is due by March 1. The deposit, minus the registration fee, is refundable until January 5. The paid balance, minus the deposit, is refundable until March 1. An optional jeep tour of the Switzer Ranch is available on Saturday for an additional $50 per person.

To register, or for more information, contact the Nature Center at 402-441-7895 or naturecenter@lincoln.ne.gov. More information on the Pioneers Park Nature Center is available at parks.lincoln.ne.gov/naturecenter.

The Nebraska Repertory Theatre, the state’s only regional professional theatre, associated with the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, launches its first year-round season September 30, 2017 with ABIGAIL/1702 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

October 11, 12, 13 at 7:30 pm and October 8, 15 at 2:00 pm in the Lied Center’s Johnny Carson Theater. Tickets are available through the Lied Center Ticket Office at 301 North 12th Street, 402-472-4747 or 800-432-3231 Monday through Friday from 11:00 am to 5:30 pm, or online at http://www.liedcenter.org. A five-show season ticket is $120, $60 for students and member of OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute). Individual tickets for ABIGAIL/1702 are $30, $15 for students and OLLI members.

The Nebraska Repertory Theatre, affiliated with the Actors’ Equity Association, has been on hiatus since its final summer season in 2014. A new collaboration between the Nebraska Repertory Theatre and the Lied Center for Performing Arts, and a merger of the Nebraska Rep and University Theatre begins with ABIGAIL/1702. According to Park, “Nebraska Rep is thrilled to kick-off our 49th year with a bold new vision. For decades, we’ve served Lincoln as a professional summer repertory theatre. We are pleased to announce that we are now a year-round theatre. The theme of our season this year is Classics Reimagined. Not only are we reimagining Nebraska Repertory Theatre and expanding our season, but all of our shows this year tell familiar stories in a new way.”

ABIGAIL/1702 Ten years after The Crucible’s infamous seductress, Abigail Williams, danced with the devil in Salem, darkness returns. As she cares for a young sailor on the brink of death, a mysterious stranger from Abigail’s past catches up with her, sending her on one final, suspense-filled quest for redemption.

Park explains the background of the play: “Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a fictionalized account of the Salem Witch Trials that occurred in 1692. The play takes aim at the hysteria that swept colonial Salem, Massachusetts and caused twenty innocent victims to hang as witches.”

At the beginning of Miller’s play, Reverend Parris catches his niece, Abigail Williams, and several of her friends dancing in the woods. Fearing severe punishment, the girls pretend to be possessed by friends, family members and neighbors.

Park continues, “Abigail Williams is a cunning manipulator. She easily whips the other girls into an emotional frenzy…One man, John Proctor, knows that [she] is lying…Worried for his friends and neighbors, John threatens to reveal his infidelity with Abigail to the court if necessary to stop her…Eventually, Abigail stands by as even John is accused. Unable to watch John Proctor hang, Abigail steals Reverend Parris’ life savings and flees from Salem. ABIGAIL/1702 begins 10 years after John Proctor and 19 others were falsely accused, sentenced and hung for witchcraft.”

Nebraska Repertory Theatre opens its season Sept. 30

Andy Park announces the season at a special event May 11 at The Dish in Lincoln. Photo by Michael Reinmiller.

The Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film with the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts is relaunching the Nebraska Repertory Theatre this fall. The state’s only regional, professional theatre will offer a five-production season beginning September 30.

Tickets are available now through the Lied Center Box Office at (402) 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., or online at http://www.liedcenter.org. A five-show season ticket is $120 and $60 for students and members of OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute).